Cleopatra’s veeltaligheid1 | Amsterdam University Press Journals Online
2004
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Lampas
  4. Volume 56, Issue 2
  5. Article
Volume 56, Issue 2
  • ISSN: 0165-8204
  • E-ISSN: 2667-1573

Abstract

Abstract

This paper argues that the many languages allegedly spoken by Cleopatra VII (Plutarch, 27.2-4) were part of a court ritual and should be understood in the context of imperial ideology and rhetoric. They can be read as a blueprint of Cleopatra’s (imagined) empire, a blueprint which consists of regions that were claimed by the Ptolemies more often: the Red Sea, Nubia, Egypt, Nabataea, and the Levant, with the addition of the former Seleucid Upper Satrapies, yet to be conquered by Mark Antony, which Cleopatra, because of her Seleucid ancestry, could claim as her inheritance. This rhetoric stands in a Near Eastern and Egyptian tradition of summing up the peoples that constitute the world empire, and emphasizing control over faraway lands. Another important conclusion to be drawn from Plutarch’s list of languages, is that African populations to the south of Egypt, too, featured prominently in Cleopatra’s imperial rhetoric – something that our Mediterranean-focused narrative sources, as well as most modern historians, are usually not very interested in.

© Rolf Strootman
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.5117/LAM2023.2.004.STRO
2023-06-01
2024-05-10
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Almagor, E.2023. ‘“To all parts of the kingdom”. The Book of Esther as a Seleukid text’, in A.Coşkun en R.Wenghofer (eds), Seleukid Ideology. Creation, reception and response (Seleukid Perspectives 1), Stuttgart, 189-214.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Ashton, S.-A.2008. Cleopatra and Egypt, Malden, MA.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Bagnall, R.S.1997. ‘Decolonizing Ptolemaic Egypt’, in P.Cartledge, P.Garnsey en E.Gruen (eds), Hellenistic Constructs. Essays in culture, history, and historiography, Berkeley, 225-241.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Balatti, S.2021. ‘Yau̯nā and Sakā. Identity constructions at the margins of the Achaemenid Empire’, Studia Orientalia9.2, 140-153.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Bang, P.F. en D.Kołodziejczyk. 2012. ‘“Elephant of India”. Universal empire through time and across culture’, in P.F.Bang en D.Kołodziejczyk (eds), Universal Empire. A comparative approach to imperial culture and representation in Eurasian history, Cambridge, 1-40.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Beyer-Rotthoff, B.1993. Untersuchungen zur Aussenpolitik Ptolemaios’ III. Habelts Dissertationsdrucke, Bonn.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Bichler, R. en R.Rollinger. 2017. ‘Universale Weltherrschaft und die Monumente an ihren Grenzen. Die Idee unbegrenzter Herrschaft und deren Brechung im diskursiven Wechselspiel (vom Alten Orient bis zum Imperium Romanum)’, in R.Rollinger (ed.), Die Sicht auf die Welt zwischen Ost und West (750 v. Chr.-55o n. Chr.) (Classica et Orientalia 12), Wiesbaden, 1-30.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Bivar, A.D.1978. ‘The Seleucid Inscription. The Aramaic summary’, in D.Stronach (ed.), Pasargadae. A Report on the excavations conducted by the British institute of Persian studies from 1961 to 1963, Oxford, 161-162.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Burstein, S.M.1993. ‘The Hellenistic fringe. The case of Meroe’, in P.M.Green (ed.), Hellenistic History and Culture, Berkeley, 38-53.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Burstein, S.M.1998. Ancient African Civilizations. Kush and Axum, Princeton, NJ.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Burstein, S.M.2004. The Reign of Cleopatra, Westport, CT/Londen.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Burstein, S.M.2008a: ‘Elephants for Ptolemy II. Ptolemaic policy in Nubia in the third century BC’, in P.McKechnie en P.Guillaume (eds), Ptolemy Philadelphus and His World (Mnemosyne Supplements 300), Leiden/Boston, 135-147.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Burstein, S.M.2008b: ‘Trogodytes = Blemmyes = Beja? The misuse of ancient ethnography’, in H.Barnard en W.Z.Wendrich (eds), The Archaeology of Mobility. Old World and New World nomadism, Los Angeles, 250-263.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Burstein, S.M.2008c: ‘When Greek was an African language. The role of Greek culture in Ancient and Medieval Nubia’, Journal of World History19.1, 41-61.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Burstein, S.M.2021a. ‘The African encounter with Greece. The case of Kush’, Acta Classica64, 48-71.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Burstein, S.M.2021b. ‘The African encounter with Greece. The case of Kush’, Acta Classica64, 48-71.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Burstein, S.M.2021c. ‘The Phonen Letter. A reconsideration’, Beiträge zur Sudanforschung13, 39-43.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Cohen, G.M.2006. The Hellenistic Settlements in Syria, the Red Sea Basin, and North Africa (Hellenistic Culture and Society 46), Berkeley/Los Angeles.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Degen, J.2021. ‘Alexander III, the Achaemenids and the quest for Dionysos. Framing and claiming universal rulership in the Macedonian world empire’, in T.Daryaee en R.Rollinger (eds), Iran and its Histories. From the beginnings through the Achaemenid empire (Classica et Orientalia 29), Wiesbaden, 239-287.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Eckhardt, B.2017. ‘Memories of Persian rule. Constructing history and ideology in Hasmonean Judea’, in R.Strootman en M.J.Versluys (eds), Persianism in Antiquity (Oriens et Occidens 25), Frankfurt, 249-266.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Eckstein, A. M.2006. Mediterranean Anarchy, Interstate War, and the Rise of Rome (Hellenistic Culture and Society 48), Berkeley/Los Angeles.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Flamarion, E.1993. Cléopâtre. Vie et mort d’un pharaon, Parijs.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Godley, A.D.1921. Herodotus, The Persian Wars, Volume II: Books 3-4, Cambridge, MA.
     [Google Scholar]
  24. Grainger, J.D.2010. The Syrian Wars (Mnemosyne Supplements 320), Leiden/Boston.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Grant, M.1972. Cleopatra, New York.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Hauben, H.1990. ‘L’éxpedition de Ptolemée III en Orient et la sédition domestique de 245 av. J.-C.’, Archiv für Papyrusforschung36, 29-37.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Hölbl, G.A.2001. History of the Ptolemaic Empire, Londen/New York.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Howe, T., en S.Müller2012. ‘Mission accomplished. Alexander at the Hyphasis’, Ancient History Bulletin26, 21-38.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Hoyland, R.G.2001. Arabia and the Arabs. From the Bronze Age to the coming of Islam, New York/Londen.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Hunter, R.L.2003. Encomiumof Ptolemy Philadelphus, Berkeley/Los Angeles/Londen.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Jacobs, B.2012. ‘Sprachen, die der König spricht. Zum ideologischen Hintergrund der Mehrsprachigkeit der Achämenideninschriften’, in R.Rollinger, K.Schnegg, G.Schwinghammer en B.Truschnegg (eds), Altertum und Gegenwart. 125 Jahre Alte Geschichte in Innsbruck. Vorträge der Ringvorlesung Innsbruck 2010, Innsbruck, 95-130.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Jones, P.J.2006. Cleopatra. A sourcebook (Oklahoma Series in Classical Culture 31), Norman, OK.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Kleiner, D.E.E.2005. Cleopatra and Rome, Cambridge, MA.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Klooster, J.2020. ‘Writing monarchs of the Hellenistic Age. Renown, fame, and infamy’, in R.Faber (ed.), Celebrity, Fameand Infamyinthe Hellenistic World, Toronto, 172-198.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Kuhrt, A.2007. The Persian Empire. A corpus of sources from the Achaemenid Period, Londen/New York.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Lerouge-Cohen, C.2013. ‘La référence aux «Sept» dans les royaumes gréco-iraniens de l’époque hellénistique. La survivance d’un usage achéménide?’, Ktèma38, 107-114.
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Lerouge-Cohen, C.2017. ‘Persianism in the kingdom of Pontic Kappadokia. The genealogical claims of the Mithridatids’, in R.Strootman en M. J.Versluys (eds), Persianism in Antiquity (Oriens et Occidens 25), Stuttgart, 223-234.
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Merkelbach, R. en J.Stauber. 2001. Steinepigramme aus demgriechischen Osten. Band III: Der “Ferne Osten” und das Landesinnere bis zum Tauros, München/Leipzig.
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Pelling, C.B.R.1988. Life of Antony, Cambridge.
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Reinach, T.1890. Mithridate Eupator, roi de Ponte, Parijs.
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Rollinger, R., en J.Degen2021a. ‘Conceptualizing universal rulership. Considerations on the Persian Achaemenid worldview and the Saka at the “end of the world”’, in A.Luther, H.Klinkott, en J.Wiesehöfer (eds), Beiträge zur Geschichte und Kultur des alten Iran und benachbarter Gebiete Festschrift für Rüdiger Schmitt (Oriens et Occidens 36), Stuttgart, 187-224.
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Rollinger, R. en J.Degen. 2021b. ‘Alexander the Great, the Indian Ocean, and the borders of the world’, in D.Agut-Labordère, R.Boucharlat, F.Joannès, A.Kuhrt en M.W.Stolper (eds), Achemenet. Vingt ans après. Etudes offertes a Pierre Briant à l’occasion des vingt ans du Programme Achemenet (Persika 21), Leuven, 321-342.
     [Google Scholar]
  43. Root, M.C.1979. The King and Kingship in Achaemenid Art. Essays on the creation of an iconography of empire, Leiden.
     [Google Scholar]
  44. Rossini, A.2021. ‘Iscrizione trionfale di Tolomeo III ad Aduli’, Axon5.2, 93-141.
     [Google Scholar]
  45. Sauneron, S.1960. ‘La différenciation des langages d’après la tradition égyptienne’, Bulletin de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale60, 31-41.
     [Google Scholar]
  46. Schrapel, T.1996. Das Reich der Kleopatra. Quellenkritische Untersuchungen zu den “Landschenkungen” Mark Antons, Trier.
     [Google Scholar]
  47. Southern, P.2000. Cleopatra. Stroud.
     [Google Scholar]
  48. Speidel, M.A., 2016. ‘Wars, trade and treaties. New, revised, and neglected sources for the political, diplomatic, and military aspects of Imperial Rome’s relations with the Red Sea Basin and India’, in K.S.Mathew (ed.), Imperial Rome, Indian Ocean Regions and Muziris. New perspectives on maritime trade, New Delhi, 83-128.
     [Google Scholar]
  49. Spek, R.J. van der en I.L.Finkel (eds). Te verschijnen. Babylonian Chronicles of the Hellenistic Period. Beschikbaar via: www.livius.org.
     [Google Scholar]
  50. Stolper, M.W.2005. ‘Achaemenid languages and inscriptions’, in J.Curtis en N.Tallis (eds), Forgotten Empire. The world of ancient Persia, Londen, 18-24.
     [Google Scholar]
  51. Strootman, R.2010. ‘Queen of Kings. Cleopatra VII and the Donations of Alexandria’, in M.Facella en T.Kaizer (eds), Kingdoms and Principalities in the Roman Near East (Occidens et Oriens 19), Stuttgart, 139-158.
     [Google Scholar]
  52. Strootman, R.2014a. ‘Van de Hellespont tot India. Cleopatra VII en de “Donaties van Alexandrië”’, Lampas47.2, 120-137.
     [Google Scholar]
  53. Strootman, R.2014b. ‘Hellenistic imperialism and the idea of world unity’, in C.Rapp en H.Drake (eds), The City in the Classical and Post-Classical World. Changing contexts of power and identity, Cambridge, 38-61.
     [Google Scholar]
  54. Strootman, R.2019. ‘The Ptolemaic sea empire’, in R.Strootman, F.van den Eijnde en R.van Wijk (eds), Empires of the Sea. Maritime power networks in world history (Cultural Interactions in the Mediterranean 4), Leiden/Boston, 113-152.
     [Google Scholar]
  55. Strootman, R.2022. ‘Pothos or propaganda. Alexander’s longing to reach the Ocean and Argead imperial ideology’, in F.Pownall, S.R.Asirvatham en S.Müller (eds), The Courts of Philip II and Alexander the Great. Monarchy and power in ancient Macedonia, Berlijn/Boston, 189-207.
     [Google Scholar]
  56. Volkmann, H.1953. Kleopatra. Politik und Propaganda, München.
     [Google Scholar]
  57. Wes, M.A.2000. Diva Cleopatra. Historische en onhistorische vertellingen, ’s-Hertogenbosch.
     [Google Scholar]
  58. Winnicki, J.K.2009. Late Egypt and her Neighbours. Foreign population in Egypt in the first millennium BC, Warsaw.
     [Google Scholar]
  59. Zaccagnini, C.1982. ‘The enemy in the Neo-Assyrian royal inscriptions. The “ethnographic” description’, in H.-J.Nissen en J.Renger (eds), Mesopotamien und seine Nachbarn. 25e rencontre assyriologique internationale, Berlijn, 409-424.
     [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.5117/LAM2023.2.004.STRO
Loading
Cleopatra’s veeltaligheid1
LAMPAS 56, 153 (2023); https://doi.org/10.5117/LAM2023.2.004.STRO
/content/journals/10.5117/LAM2023.2.004.STRO
/content/journals/10.5117/LAM2023.2.004.STRO
Loading

Data & Media loading...

Keyword(s): ancient Africa; Cleopatra; imperialism; Plutarch; Ptolemies

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error